Now up at Outer Space is Ruth Cho’s Window Commission work ‘Not My First Rodeo’ on show until 30 October 2022.
Not my first rodeo is a linocut triptych based on the old Chinese proverb ‘he who rides the tiger is afraid to dismount’ used to describe a risky situation where it is safer for someone to continue rather than stop. The proverb was translated into the popular Western sport of rodeo to comment on the recurring human exploitation of nature. In particular, how we engage in or support unsustainable activities to showcase our status and material wealth. This is reflected in the showy performance of rodeo which disregards its harmful impact on the animals for entertainment and accolades. Evidently, corporations and people are finding it safer or in their best interest to continue ‘riding the tiger’ on their comfortable, yet self-destructive path. By using linocut, she continues the historical role of relief printmaking as a medium of social and political critique.
Photography by Louis Lim. Courtesy of the artist and Outer Space.
